Smaller classes, yes, but after that the candidates offer a grab bag of views on charter schools and divergent spending priorities.

That’s your electoral cheat sheet for the race to fill an open seat on the Santa Ana Board of Education, a special election slated for Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Four people are running for the seat, which became vacant last year when former school board member Cecilia Iglesias was elected to city council. All four say there should be fewer students in classes in Santa Ana schools. But on a variety of other topics– from the district’s spending priorities to the appropriate role of charter schools in Santa Ana — they offer different views.

The Santa Ana Unified School District trustees initially sought to appoint someone to the board, but they deadlocked on the final two candidates, prompting a public vote. One of those nominees was Anaheim teacher Carolyn Torres, who now is running for the seat. Others in the race are Cecilia Aguinaga, a retired school police outreach coordinator with the district, David Benavides, a former city councilman, and Gisela Contreras, a commercial insurance broker.

The school district, with about 47,000 students and 5,000 employees, is the 10th largest in California.

CECILIA AGUINAGA

Aguinaga worked in the district for 15 years, starting as a bilingual instructional analyst in 1994 and retiring in 2009 as a parent outreach coordinator. She cites safety as a priority, and wants to see school district police officers work more closely with Santa Ana police. She also wants to reduce class sizes and come up with ways to get parents more involved.

On the hot-button topic of publicly-funded school charter schools, she says “It should be the parents’ choice.”

“I would work towards smoothing out the relationship between the district and charter schools, building trusting relationships, and respecting each other for the work we do,” she said.

Aguinaga has run for the seat before, most recently last year, when she came in last among five candidates, with 8.5% of the votes. But she’s going into the Tuesday race backed by a hefty financial war chest, according to the latest campaign statement filings with the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

The Santa Ana Police Officers Association, through a political action committee, contributed $60,000 to Aguinaga’s campaign. The PAC, Community Leaders United, was formed to support her campaign.

Aguinaga said her support from the police extends from her last job with the district and because her son, Ramsey Aguinaga, who passed away last year, was a Santa Ana police officer.

Gerry Serrano, the union’s president, said his organization has endorsed Aguinaga previously and, in past elections, has supported other school board candidates.

“We feel strongly in the investment in our youth. They are the future leaders, business people, educators and Public Safety employees in our communities.”

DAVID BENAVIDES

Benavides, 43, is executive director of the non-profit KidWorks and a former three-term member of the Santa Ana City Council and, until recently, a member of the planning commission.

Benavides said Santa Ana Unified is “heading in a forward direction,” with improving graduation rates and strong programs, such as the district’s wellness centers, which serve as community hubs throughout the city.

The district’s biggest challenge, in Benavides’ view, is declining enrollment.

Fewer students, he said, mean “less funds available to hire quality teachers,” as well as potentially bigger class sizes. The trend, he added, also can mean fewer “quality co-curricular programs.”

Benavides said charter schools opened in the area “have complemented” the school district. But he expressed concern that a growing number of companies seeking to open new charters in Santa Ana have little background in public education and aren’t as accountable or transparent as other public schools.

“As an SAUSD parent, I am in favor of strengthening our SAUSD schools, not in growing the number of charter schools in Santa Ana.”

Benavides has the most endorsements among the four candidates, including nods from Santa Ana School Board President Valerie Amezcua, Rep. Lou Correa, state Sen. Tom Umberg, Assemblyman Tom Daly and other local and state elected leaders. He’s also endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County and the Orange County Labor Federation.

As of Friday, he had raised $36,850 in donations, most of it from labor unions. Benavides also transferred $9,000 from a campaign to run for Santa Ana mayor in 2020. If elected to the school board, he said he would focus on that job and not run for mayor.

GISELA CONTRERAS

Contreras, 45, a commercial insurance broker, said the district’s biggest challenges include a need for more quality education programs and more resources for teachers. She also wants to see school programs that would develop student character, and she wants parents’ rights protected, particularly regarding the distribution of sex education materials.

Contreras supports charter schools and said her own children have attended both types of public schools.

“Parents know what is best for their children and each child may thrive in a different environment. Parents should have more options, not less options, when it comes to education.”

Contreras has raised $3,259 for her campaign, according to the most recent filings. Most of it, $3,000, was contributed by VDC Red Hill Holdings, the developer of The Link, a homeless center in Santa Ana.

Contreras is endorsed by Councilwoman Iglesias, the former trustee who supports charter schools, and the Republican Party of Orange County.

CAROLYN TORRES

Torres, 36, a 7th grade history teacher at Dale Jr. High in Anaheim, believes being an active teacher gives her a clear view of how Santa Ana schools are doing, and how to advocate for students, parents and staff.

The biggest challenge she sees is class size. Whatever challenges exist in educating students, she says, are magnified when there are too many students to teach.

Torres also supports a restorative justice approach to student discipline, which emphasizes prevention and intervention strategies rather than punishment. She also noted that student safety includes emotional as well as physical safety.

She believes community members in Santa Ana “don’t feel heard” by the district, and that the disconnect makes it harder for some parents to volunteer as school helpers and to get involved with their childrens’ education.

As for charter schools, Torres said many are not transparent or accountable to their communities. “Corporations and big money interests quickly discovered they could use (schools) for profit,” she said.

Torres’ campaign has raised just over $11,000, according to her most recent campaign statement. Many of the contributions ranged from $100 to $250 from supporters that include community activists and school employees.

Torres is endorsed by a number of trustees in different school districts, including Santa Ana trustee Alfonso Alvarez, Anaheim Union trustee AneeMarie Randle-Trejo, and Garden Grove Unified trustee Walter Muneton. Torres said she also is endorsed by local community organizations “Our Revolution” and “VELA, Vecindario Lacy en Acción,” as well as the national Network of Public Education, an advocacy group that promotes public schools.

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